Help me stock new 45

[hollyfish2000]

OK -- I got a new tank yesterday, supposedly for my ruby green family (1M-4F) and six lucipinnis. It's a 45 gallon -- 36" long, 12" wide and I dunno 2X" high. I was planning on moving everyone into this tank with no additions. Now I'm rethinking the ruby greens. The tank is high and the rock work goes up about half way up, leaving a lot of nice open water. But my ruby greens tend to swim only in the lower half. They also don't seem to like the light on and I'm planning on making this a lightly planted tank.

So before I add them and can never catch them again, I'm looking for suggestions for fish that might take more advantage of the open water. Obviously, I'm limited due to the smallness of the tank, but I'm open to your thoughts. Two things are a MUST -- the stock must be nice to my lucippinis and they must be potentially OK with a lightly planted tank i.e. anubias, java fern, etc.

 

[hollyfish2000]

25 views but no suggestions??? Ruby greens are not in yet, so there's still time to chime in . . .

Got it planted this weekend. Pic attached (ignore the temporary light.)

 

[Tony]

Dang! Sweet looking tank. Sorry I can't give you a good suggestion.

I know not the cichlids outside of Lake Malawi.

 

[hollyfish2000]

Would one male 3 F Aulonocara kandeense (blue orchid) work?

 

[dogofwar]

Try a pair of cryptoheros nanoluteus or similar and some dithers.

That tank will give them room to spread out and guard their babies!

Matt

 

[hollyfish2000]

Matt -- what kind of dithers?

 

[hollyfish2000]

Hmmm. Not sure about this. I did a check and these are CA cichlids, although it looks like they can tolerate higher pH. I've got this set up for Africans . . . I also don't want my lucippinis getting beaten up.

 

[Spine]

I really like the way the lace rock looks, nice job.

I don't like to have my gravel very deep in my african tanks, they tend to dig and spread it around.

 

[twisted fisher]

lol ok i gotta do it cause i wouldn't be me if i didn't

SHELLIES!!!!!!

 

[bertolli]

I would do some angels and then a pair of dwarf SA's with a school of tetras or you could put in some kribensis, I just got a pair for my 10 and they seem like they would enjoy that rocky area.

 

[Fishman]

How about some convicts?? I have plenty if you want some.

 

[hollyfish2000]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm really wedded to this being an African tank, though. I already have a nice (larger) planted SA tank . . .

I don't think shellies would work with my synos. They'd be fighting for the same territory -- yes?

I'm still pondering, but thanks!

 

[Leffler817]

My Shellies and Synos get a long fine, but I have Petricolas not Lucipinnis. You could add some rock dwelling Tangs with your Victorians. I have Ruby Greens with Marleris and Leleupis they do not bother each other as the RGs hang out across the top of the tank.

 

[Tony]

Would one male 3 F Aulonocara kandeense (blue orchid) work?

Size-wise, they'd be great. How aggressive are the lucipinnis and how big do they get? My only concern is that is the peacocks are in with more aggressive fish, the male will not color up and you'll end up with 4 gray fish. The dwarf peacocks are not aggressive at all compared to their larger cousins and are generally kept in a species tank or with only very timid fish.

 

[hollyfish2000]

The lucipinnis won't bother the peacocks at all . . .

I've also seen aulonocara hueseri recommended for a smaller tank, too, as they're non-aggressive and on the smaller side. Now I just need to see if anyone locally has either of these . . .

 

[Tony]

The blue orchids are pretty tough to find. I know O'Shea had been looking for them for a while and only just found some from mail order a couple of months back. I believe he may be breeding them (or close to it).

Richard also has some really nice ones, but am not sure if he has fry.

I have some A. maylandi, which are similar to the blue orchids (they have a yellow stripe instead of white and are a slightly lighter base color blue). I have a handfull of fry around 1.5 inch if interested, but they are pretty slow growers. I believe that Pat said he had some on another thread as well.

I am not sure about the hueseri; haven't seen them around, but you could probably find them at some of the more specialized mail order places (Dykemyster or Dave's). If you're thinking of getting some mail order, send me a PM. There's a couple of things I wouldn't mind grabbing from them as well.

EDIT: Just checked Dave's and he has the hueseri in stock.

Here's a good link on the "maylandi-type" peacocks: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aulonocara_maylandi_types.php

Here's a picture of my male maylandi from the Fall of last year (I need to get a more recent shot as he's colored up a bunch more since then:

 

[toddnbecka]

IME ruby greens and lucipinnis work well together, but the catfish are more often visible than the cichlids. No conflict between lucipinnis and shellies, or anything else I've kept with them for that matter. They are quite adaptable to differet water conditions, and have been spawned in just about everything above 7.0. Acidic water really doesn't suit them, but otherwise they're not picky.

 

[hollyfish2000]

OHMIGOD -- Tony -- that is an awesome fish!!! I want him!!!

That cichlid forum article is what got me focused on the blue orchid or sulfurhead. It wasn't clear to me that Dave's had the hueseri males, just females. I'll probably give him a call and chat.

Let me think about your fry. That would certainly be easy for me. How many do you think I should start with in what is essentially a tall 40 gallon breeder? Can I get away with more than one male in the set-up, do you think?

 

[YSS]

Wow! Nice fish Tony. Let me know if you have any extra fry left over after Holly. Love to grow some out. Nice looking tank Holly. My neck's hurting after looking at the pics.

 

[Tony]

OHMIGOD -- Tony -- that is an awesome fish!!! I want him!!!

That cichlid forum article is what got me focused on the blue orchid or sulfurhead. It wasn't clear to me that Dave's had the hueseri males, just females. I'll probably give him a call and chat.

Let me think about your fry. That would certainly be easy for me. How many do you think I should start with in what is essentially a tall 40 gallon breeder? Can I get away with more than one male in the set-up, do you think?

Thanks so much, Holly.

I saw that Eric Dyke also has huesseri, but his list says that he is out of stock as well. As for my guys, they are pretty small right now and I couldn't really guarantee any sexing for another month or so. I had a ton of them, but got ich in the tank and lost all but about 6-8 of them.

In a 45, you could probably keep a fairly large group in there.. maybe 2M/6-7F and still get some decent color in the sub-male; especially given the amount of cover you have in the tank.

Wow! Nice fish Tony. Let me know if you have any extra fry left over after Holly. Love to grow some out. Nice looking tank Holly. My neck's hurting after looking at the pics.

I'll have some fry for you Yun, but probably not for a few months as my big batch is still 1/2"-3/4" right now.